An earthen dam at the Kaloko Reservoir shows a breach Tuesday in the northeast part of Kauai in Lilhue, Hawaii. The dam burst without warning Tuesday morning. One body was found and as many as seven people were reported missing as two houses were swept away and the island’s main coastal highway was washed out.Thousands of residents and tourists were cut off along the island’s north shore.

Kilauea, Hawaii – An earthen dam burst on the Hawaiian island of Kauai on Tuesday, sweeping away at least two houses and washing out the only road along the island’s north shore. One person was killed, and as many as seven others were reported missing.

The Kaloko Reservoir dam gave way without warning after days of heavy rain, cutting off access to thousands of rural houses and luxury condominiums.

Search crews recovered an unidentified body, Coast Guard spokesman Michael De Nyse said. Though a search plane and a helicopter had returned to base late Tuesday, the Coast Guard was still searching for victims in the floodwater.

The Kaloko dam, about 40 feet high and 1,800 feet long, captured runoff from small streams. Authorities estimated that about 1,400 acre-feet of water poured out of the reservoir, which is enough water to cover 1,400 acres a foot deep, or more than 60 million cubic feet.

Debris from the wall of water could be seen clinging to electrical wires. The surge uprooted 200-foot trees, taking out garages, sheds and massive dirt embankments.

“Sounded like a 747 jet crashing here in the valley, all the trees popping and snapping and everything,” Kilauea resident John Hawthorne said. “It was just a horrendous sound, and it never quit.”

State officials were assessing the safety of other dams in the Kauai hills, which are dotted with private earthen dams like the one that broke open.

Ed Teixeira, state vice director of civil defense, said in Honolulu that officials were worried about erosion caused by floodwaters.

“I would characterize this as a growing crisis on Kauai,” Teixeira said.

Parts of golf courses and shopping-center parking lots were flooded, and major runoff into the normally blue ocean turned the waves muddy.

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